Like everyone else in England, we are in the middle of a lockdown.
Our movements are restricted, our offices are closed – save for a few essential staff for whom working from home is not an option – and all meetings have moved online once more.
We are able to continue work on our construction sites and are, in many ways, in a fortunate position compared to many other industries such as tourism and leisure.
There is, however, no question that it makes things more challenging.
Starting new jobs is incredibly hard as there is so much information that has to be passed on. Then there are factors such as how you induct new staff members and the list goes on and on.
It is like walking through treacle, everything is harder and everything requires more effort.
But we fully understand why the lockdown was re-introduced after the loosening of restrictions brought the much-anticipated second wave and we know we have to slow the spread of the virus and allow the NHS to be able to cope.
However, to then read that the Government are planning a temporary U-turn over Christmas for a period of around five days with multiple households mixing, really does get me quite upset and angry.
That could, according to reports, mean another lockdown of 20 days. The Government are measuring things in terms of lockdown days rather than the cost both in human terms and also damage to the economy – an economy which is already in a highly precarious state.
The explanations seem almost nonchalant – “Oh, we will have another 20 days of lockdown.” It is as if they haven’t assessed the impacts of those five days of fun
We have seen numbers rising in terms of suicide rates and most people will be able to tell you a story of someone they know, or a friend of a friend who has committed suicide this year which is devastating.
The idea that it is worth being locked down for a month for the sake of just five days, just seems absurd.
It also seems rather right wing that the Government is prepared to sacrifice lives, the future of some businesses, many jobs and the health of the economy for an element of society to celebrate Christmas when Eid was cancelled with a day’s notice and Diwali severely restrict.
It doesn’t seem appropriate to say that this one Christian celebration is worth all of this damage – you start to wonder if that is a very Christian thing to do.
The motive just seems to be to placate the population by saying we can celebrate Christmas without explaining the factual consequences. I cannot decide whether the Government feels that the population is incapable of digesting the implications or whether they have not assessed what the implication of Festive fun would be for the nation both economically and for the NHS.
People are working so hard to keep business and families afloat and the idea you can just abandon the rules with no logical and explainable reason is total nonsense, and actually goes totally against the mantra the Government have been preaching as vital for so long.
It smacks totally of populism – but it is populism with a deathly consequence.
By Eleanor Deeley
